Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives Overweight Rating from Stephens

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $68.00 target price on the stock. Stephens’ target price indicates a potential upside of 24.27% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on HWC. DA Davidson upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $54.72 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $41.19 and a 1 year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,669. This trade represents a 13.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at $117,000. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation operates as the financial holding company for Hancock Whitney Bank that provides traditional and online banking services to commercial, small business, and retail customers. It offers various transaction and savings deposit products consisting of brokered deposits, time deposits, and money market accounts; treasury management services, secured and unsecured loan products including revolving credit facilities, and letters of credit and similar financial guarantees; and trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, and individuals, and investment advisory and brokerage products.